BILL NUMBER: ACR 170	CHAPTERED  08/22/00

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   111
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   AUGUST 22, 2000
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   AUGUST 18, 2000
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 10, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 8, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Maldonado

                        JUNE 13, 2000

   Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 170--Relative to Salmon and
Steelhead Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 170, Maldonado.  Salmon and Steelhead Awareness Month.
   This measure would declare October of each year Salmon and
Steelhead Awareness Month, commencing October 2000.




   WHEREAS, California salmon and steelhead are an indicator of a
quality living experience in this state.  They provide evidence of
our water quality and watershed well-being.  They provide a
substantial benefit to local economies, which rely on tourism and
outdoor recreation.  Salmon and steelhead are a sign of our natural
heritage, dating back millions of years; and
   WHEREAS, Salmon and steelhead were once so numerous they turned
the rivers into rainbows of color, one could almost cross streams
upon their backs, and they turned quiet evenings into sounds of
storms with their splashing as they came home to spawn.  They are the
exquisite joining of our seas and rivers.  Witnessing their journey
has captivated the spirits of many.  Salmon and steelhead are one of
our best national treasures; and
   WHEREAS, Native Americans depended upon salmon and steelhead for
sustenance and these fish became the foundation for tribal culture,
ritual, communion, and trade.  Respect for this natural gift was
accompanied with tribal ceremonies, restrictions on take, and
cultural conservation; and
   WHEREAS, Salmon and steelhead are treasures we could lose.  Due to
multiple causes, including many overlays of human impacts, salmon
and steelhead populations have plummeted, creating extinction and
severe losses over much of the species' historic range.  The journey
of an anadromous fish depends on sufficient stream flow, clean water,
predator prey balance, riparian buffers for shade, and good inland
conditions to rebound from warm oceans.  We must strongly examine our
choices and behaviors.  Pollution, overfishing, degradation of
riparian habitat, and interbreeding threaten the wild salmon and
steelhead populations.  Everyone's actions have results, and perhaps
no species is more affected by the cumulative impacts of man than the
salmon and steelhead; and
   WHEREAS, The diminished species has now precipitated grave concern
and multiple agency involvement resulting in the listings of species
as endangered or threatened.  Since the first salmon hatchery in
California shipped fertilized salmon eggs to the East Coast to
bolster Atlantic salmon already in decline, we became aware of the
threat to salmon and steelhead on the West Coast.  In 1988, the
Department of Fish and Game wrote the Salmon, Steelhead Trout, and
Anadromous Fisheries Program Act.  The National Marine Fisheries
Service listed as threatened the Sacramento Winter-run Chinook Salmon
in 1989.  Many additional listings have been made since.  These
include listing Southern Steelhead as endangered in 1997 and Coastal
Chinook as threatened in 1999.  The Environmental Protection Agency,
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Army Corps of
Engineers, the Resources Agency, National Marine Fisheries Service,
United States Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of
Fish and Game, California Coastal Commission, State Water Resources
Control Board, California Conservation Corps, individual counties,
and others have been involved in the recovery of salmon and
steelhead.  These entities, along with some elected representatives,
have responded to the early concerns raised by advocacy groups such
as CalTrout, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Association,
Sierra Club, Planning and Conservation League, Center for Biological
Diversity, Friends of the River, For the Sake of Salmon, California
Sportsfish Alliance, Salmonid Restoration Foundation, State Coastal
Conservancy, Native Fish Society, several salmon and steelhead
recovery coalitions, local watershed alliances and watershed
institutes, concerned landowners, and many others.  Coalitions and
alliances are forming with many stakeholders affecting the conditions
of salmon and steelhead populations.  We are all allies of clean
water.  We all have common ground for conservation.  We all hold one
piece of the success of healthy water, healthy salmon, and healthy
communities.  We all need to know where we live and take action in
the form of restoration, reconciliation, and healing; and
   WHEREAS, A just and sustainable society will not necessarily take
from our future generations, nor arbitrarily drive to extinction, the
national treasure of salmon and steelhead.  We should honor and
support all the work being done for nature and children, paying
respect and attention to that part in each of our hearts and minds,
which can hear the call to action to restore clean water and salmon
and steelhead to our state.  We will pay special tribute to the men
and women promoting environmental service learning as they promote a
greater sense of purpose and effectively carry on to the next
generations the tradition of serving the land.  Wild salmon and
steelhead recovery is about much more than fish; it is about respect
for the natural world that sustains us.  If we fail to do what is
necessary for salmon and steelhead, we will fail at something much
larger than saving fish; we will fail at saving the very quality of
life we all want for our children; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That October of each year be declared Salmon and
Steelhead Awareness Month, commencing October 2000, to honor the
salmon and steelhead through service and activism and to recognize
the salmon and steelhead as the premiere symbols of healthy oceans,
clean water, and rivers and streams.  This designation will serve to
promote public awareness, motivate community members, and recognize
the work that advocates, agencies, fishermen, youth, Native
Americans, educators, and service programs are already doing.  The
absence of a thriving run of salmon and steelhead where one once
existed is a sure sign of the decline of that water's health.  May we
join in a collaborative effort to restore and heal the symbol of our
aquatic world--salmon and steelhead trout.
